When: August 21, 2010 1-4 pm

Where: SustainabilityCenter 141 Bolinas Rd. Fairfax, CA

Cost: $10

Pre-registration is required to attend.

Please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Not long ago, and in some places today, all of our necessities were made with local and abundant materials using the skills and trades of the community. In our modern times some of our most abundant materials are what we label as waste, it seems appropriate that we develop a lifestyle and make conscious choices around reuse. Defined as:Putting an item to another use after its original purpose has been fulfilled’; through creative reuse, we cultivate a culture of stewards that recognize rights, privilege and responsibilities.

In this workshop we will use reclaimed materials and our creativity to make practical and functional objects that can be used in our dayto-day lives.

For this class please collect and bring the following:

• Aluminum cans (all sizes from large tomato to tuna cans)
• Bottle tops (twist off type)
• Old magazines/out dated calendar
• Records
• Old T-shirt(s)
• Wine corks
• Wallpaper scraps
• Any thing else you think can be turned from trash to function

Click on the link below to read more about the instructor.

When: Saturday, August 7, 2010

Where: 15290 Coleman Valley Rd. Occidental >>

Meet at Sustainable Fairfax’s Center 8:30 am at 141 Bolinas Rd in Fairfax to carpool there. Tour begins at 10am.

Cost: $20 per person  

We will be having lunch there. So, please bring a bag lunch or they are offering an organic lunch from food grown in their gardens for $12 per person.

<<Space is limited – must register in advance before Weds. August 4th by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  >>

Follow along through the back roads of Sonoma County with Sustainable Fairfax as we make our way up to visit the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center. We will get an overview of their facilities; learn all about their gardens and plant sales, programs and course offerings, permaculture projects, upcoming performances,ollaborations, school garden training program, Intentional Community and The Water Institue.

For more information about OAEC visit http://www.oaec.org/.

Date:

thanks to our sponsors:

On this past Sunday we gathered in our beautiful demonstration back yard at Sustainable Fairfax and delved into the topic of localizing our food.  We discovered the importance of relationship.  Our lives and our worlds are defined by relationship.  Relationship to ourselves our families our communities, and inherent in each of those is our relationship to the earth, the soil and our farmers.  We came away with a renewed inspiration to nurture those relationships and bring a sense of community and consciousness to our Holiday feasts as well as our everyday meals.

Paige Phinney from Marin Organic , Mindy of Good Earth and Richard from Farm Fresh to You graciously donated their time and energy and gave us a very thorough resource list for beginning and continuing the process of eating local. The simple action of localizing your food source has a powerful and important set of impacts

• Drastically Reduces Carbon Emissions  
• Builds local economy
• Builds local food security
• Builds soil
• Creates local jobs
• Improves seed-stock diversification
• Creates a sense of community and connection to the earth
• Reminds us of our natural rhythms and seasons
• Gives us the opportunity to participate in growing our own food

Peruse these links provided by Paige to really begin to take the 100 mile challenge, we really are what we eat! Bon Appétit 

Also remember that good old Good Earth is so wonderful to take the initiative to include information on where the food item comes from, they are doing the leg work for us so that we can be good citizens and make positive local choices.

www.marinorganic.org

www.marinorganic.org//p_tours.php

www.marinorganic.org/producer_programs.php

www.marinorganic.org/producers/producers_allstar.html

www.marinorganic.org/p_volunteer.php

When: Thursday, July 15th, 2010. 6:30-9:30pm

Where: 141 Bolinas Rd. Sustainability Center, in Fairfax

Cost: $30 Sliding Scale!

You must pre-register, email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Space is limited!

Many Americans are accustomed to going to the drugstore for their cosmetics and medicines. It was not that long ago that these products and most other necessities of life had to be made in the home. The making and using of simple recipes and remedies today provide an excellent way to save money and at the same time to learn “oldtime” lore that was once common knowledge.

In this hands-on workshop you will gain knowledge of these following lost skills:

• Ethical wild-crafting techniques, where to pick and NOT to pick & proper ways to dry herbs

• Making infusions versus decoctions - & medicinal teas vs. teas for enjoyment

• Making herbal infused oils

• Making an all purpose boo-boo salve from herbal oils & beeswax

 Click on the link below to read more about the instructor Cheryl Fromholzer.

Huge thanks to these great authors and for our food and wine sponsors who made this event such fun!!

Sustainable Fairfax brings you an evening in our garden with refreshments and an opportunity to hob knob with our own local celebrities who teach us how to put our hands in the dirt to transform our own lives and share stories about how we can transform our community.

Food Sponsor- Arti Cafe, Natural Organic Indian Cafe; located at 7282 Sir Francis Drake Blvd in Lagunitas

Wine Sponsor- 123 Bolinas; As a showcase of local and sustainably produced artisan wine, beer and farm fresh foods, 123 Bolinas is open Wednesday through Sunday from 4pm. 

When: Sunday, July 25th, 2010

Where: 11a.m.-1p.m

Meet at Sustainable Fairfax’s Center 10am to carpool there. Destination will be Star Route Farms in Bolinas.

Cost: $20 per person

Space is limited – must register in advance. Email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Are you interested in visiting one of Marin Organics farms?

In this economy and with our current state of environment, choosing to support a local organic product from a local sustainable producer is even more important. Choosing to get to know that farmer is true food security!

Join Sustainable Fairfax as we take a “behind the scenes” seasonal farm and gleaning tour with Marin Organic. Gleaned food is produce that would otherwise be left in the fields because it doesn’t meet the strict aesthetic requirements of restaurants and retail markets. This can account for up to 20% of what is grown, and throughout the year may include potatoes, squashes, spinach, leeks, beets, carrots, arugula, lettuces, meats, eggs, yogurt, ice cream and more!

So far over 130,000 pounds of local certified organic products have been gleaned and delivered to participating schools, camps, and underserved communities throughout Marin, offsetting their costs and therefore allowing them to serve local and organic options while staying within their limited budgets. Each week the program enables 12,000 children to eat organic foods grown from Marin soils.

On Thursday night,  July 8th, 2010 paticipants learned that in the looming cacophony of the American food system, it is easy to get lost in the diverging, confusing and largely unhealthy commercial food infrastructure. In direct juxtaposition to the smoke and mirrors of competing agendas, Marin County has the opportunity to celebrate what already exists as extraordinary in this healthy, thriving slow food eco-system.

At this interactive workshop we dialoged and empowered our community to recognize our ability to utilize and support the bounty all around us.

Here are a few of the resources that were given and how you can get involved!

Two books recommended are:

Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front by Joel Salatin

The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America's Emerging Batlle Over Food Rights by David E. Gumpert

Visit the Cornicopia Institute www.farmandranchfreedom.org.

Find out & take action regarding the new Safe Food Bill (already passed the house) that threatens small organic farms!

Click below to read this article in the Pt. Reyes Light about the possible impacts to farmer's.

Public comments on the Food Safety process will be accepted until July 23 at http://www.regulations.gov using docket number FDA-2010-N-0085 or mailed to the Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

Read more about Uncle Mindee's Food Forum & Matt Packard who ran this class.

When: Sunday, June 27th, 2010

Meet at Sustainable Fairfax’s Center 11:30 a.m. to carpool there.

Where: 480 Mesa Rd. Commonweal Garden in Bolinas

Cost: $15 per person

Do you want a safer home for your family? How about a healthier planet for everyone to enjoy?

Modern synthetic cleaning products were once based on age-old formulas using natural ingredients that were passed down through the generations because the chemistry was right, but now toxic ingredients are added and we often do not know the health risks that exist. When we go back to the original naturally derived ingredients to make cleaning products ourselves, we reduce pollutants in our homes. They still clean great and save you money. Most ingredients are found right in our kitchen cupboards!

On June 30th, at our Sustainability Center,  participants were provided with alternative recipes to go eco-friendly in their homes. Toxins in common household cleaning products are both terrible for human health and our ecological environment, and if enough people make the move towards non-toxic, the planet as a whole would benefit.

Click on the link below to read about the instructor, Jorge Lee.